Home of the Central Blues Australian Football Club

For the first time this year the Blues hit the road for the shortish trip to the Uinversity of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC) for a top of the table clash against the Toronto Eagles.  With both teams undefeated after the first two rounds this game was a true opportunity for either team to put their hand up as deserved 2010 premiership favorites.  Despite having never defeated the powerhouse Eagles club, the Blues were confident of notching up the important 4 points and testing their 2010 squad against the league benchmarks.  Adding a little bit of spice the encounter, Blues favorite, Rob ‘Chaps’ Chapman was playing in his 50th OAFL game (45th as a Blue following 5 with Geulph).

With a specific game plan to implement the Blues began the game strongly managing to hit the scoreboard first with a fantastic goal to Kien La who had been given the big job of running with Eagles utility ‘Jitters’.  The Eagles were just as good and it didn’t take to long before replied. After the initial few minutes both teams settled down and the first quarter became an intense arm wrestle with the ball being fluently moved from one end to the other, only to be propelled by the prospective backlines.  In the heat, the Blues carefully rotated and rested through the bench thanks to the tremendous management of team manager, Caitlin Finney,  who was taking the reigns for the first time on the sidelines.   Another goal to each team saw the scores as good as level going into the well-deserved first break.

After some reflections the Blues headed back out to resume battle.  The second quarter was similar to the first with both teams playing patches of great footy and allowing very few scoring opportunities.  The Blues midfield battled hard against the strong Eagles outfit, with neither side able to really break the other.  Half way through the quarter the Blues lost Dan ‘Dtrain’ Zimmerman to a knee injury.  Dtrain had severely restricted the influence of the dangerous Eagles playing coach, Azza, and his loss resulted in a immediate reshuffle.  Despite this the Blues continued to stand up in defence, lead by strong games by Bruce Parker and 2010 rookie sensations, Steve ‘Snorkel’ Rutledge and Riley ‘Vossy’ Armstrong who continue to impress week in and week out.   Again, heading into the halftime break there was minimal separating the two teams.

The third quarter proved to genuinely be the ‘premiership quarter’ as the Blues had a 5min lapse that allowed the Eagles to bang on several unanswered goals to pull away with a commanding lead.  Some indiscipline and inexperience was capitalized on by the impressive Eagles squad as the applied enormous pressure on the Blues defence.  Despite this momentary lapse in concentration, the Blues regained composure and managed to get a couple of goals of their own but were not really able to claw back on the scoreboard.  A 4 goal deficit at the break was considered to be well within reach and in an effort to finish strongly the coach threw caution to the wind, aborting all specific matchups and set an attacking lineup.

In the fourth quarter the Blues again continued to battle but the deficit inflicted in the third quarter proved too much as the Eagles ran out 35 point winners.

In the end there were many positive signs for the Blues with great performances from some rookies who will have taken away of a lot against the quality opposition in the Eagles.  At times when the game plan was implemented, the Blues looked dangerous and were able to score freely but the Eagles proved that they were too experienced and skilled, claiming the 4 points and title of 2010 premiership favorites.  The Blues will have to wait until Rnd 13 for redemption.

In the meantime focus has shifted to this weeks game against the Guelph Gargoyles.  This game is being played as part of a double header in Hamilton and is sure to be a contender for game of the round.  Both teams are now sitting on 2-1 and 3rd and 4th places on the ladder.  Traditionally the Blues and Guelph have always played tough and competitive games and expect this one to be no different. Given how close the league has been with 4 teams (Blues, Hawks, Gargoyles and Dingos) all on 2-1 after three rounds of footy - this game will be especially critical for either side as they each look to establishing a position in the upper half of the ladder early in the season.